The Best Interior Paints with Low Toxicity

We've done our own list of the best non-toxic paints on the market, and we were pleased to see many of our recommendations approved by The New York Times in their recent independent study.

Zero V.O.C paints have come a long way in only a few years ago. It used to be that low and no-V.O.C. paints suffered from quality and consistency issues, but now V.O.C.-free paints are mostly on par with regular paints in terms of quality and come in almost as many colors.

The test was conducted in three parts: first, paint was applied to a primed wall and left to dry for six weeks; second, it was smudged with newspaper-stained hands to test for cleaning ease; and third, it was marked up with red and black permanent markers and then repainted, to gauge how many coats it took to cover up the markings.

The overall winner (from our reading) was Benjamin Moore's zero-V.O.C Natura line. It "can be tinted more than 3,000 shades — the most of any paint here — and it went on the smoothest. Its smell was mild and a bit fruity, the most paint-like of any here, and it had a soft sheen, slightly less matte than the two above. It cleaned up better than the more expensive brands (although the fingerprints never completely disappeared), and it easily covered the ink marks."

Safecoat and Yolo Colorhouse were some of the easiest to clean. The inky fingerprints wiped away quickly without the need for excessive scrubbing.